Witch Hunter: Goujian Sword

January 31, 2023

"The heavens and the earth are in order,

the four seasons never fail their time.

The stars follow their courses,

the rivers and seas never stray from their places."

The sound of footsteps paced calmly on the short grass. The rustling of the grass awoke the snails and grasshoppers sleeping in the night.

Red bloodstains on the ground, shining under the moonlight, marked the trail of that person. Following it led to the owner of the blood.

"Humans, the wisest of creatures, must submit to rules and etiquette.

Above, there are laws and morals,

Below, rules and village regulations.

If the path is forsaken and desire becomes the leader,

then disaster will come like the thick mists of Shu."

A thin white-bearded old man with a dry wrinkled face, like bark, continued walking toward a figure standing on the village border path.

That figure struggled to control his breath while balancing his body with a wooden staff as tall and thick as young bamboo. His left arm hung lifeless, while he leaned on the staff with his right hand wrapped around it.

His green eyes—green like freshly sprouted bamboo leaves bathed in morning sunlight—gazed sharply, vigilant, with a hint of anger within.

"This world is bound by rules, Sizhu. Rules formed to maintain welfare, security, and justice! And you just broke them!"

The adult man's firm voice echoed through the night forest. Veins tensed on his forehead as he looked at the giant wasp fallen on the ground, its body split in two, with black blood and chopped human flesh spilled from its guts.

His jaw tightened, not in anger, but with a lingering pity for the youth before him.

"Hah... Hah... Let me go... I have a promise to fulfill... hah... hah..."

Cold sweat dripped from the chin of the long-hair black-haired youth. His mouth half-open, drawing air to expand his heaving lungs.

Behind the old man, whose hair had started to gray and face dried, dozens—no, scores—of giant wasps identical to the fallen one hovered steadily, ready to strike and tear apart the youth struggling to stand ahead at any command.

"I can't. In the rules, there is a price to pay for rules breaker. No matter who they are..."

Sizhu grinned before coughing up blood. The blood splattered from his mouth onto the ground. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his right arm's cloak.

"My wasp venom has begun to spread inside your body, Sizhu. You are an amazing boy teenager.

"Normally no human can defeat or even clearly see my wasps. Beside they are magical creatures, they always dwell in darkness and merge with shadows, making their presence hard to detect. Even a three-star Hunter is powerless facing them."

One giant wasp floating near his shoulder was stroked like a pet.

"The venom they carry can paralyze the black crocodile just in a matter of fingers. Who are you, Sizhu?"

Sizhu chuckled and laughed before coughing blood again. The cough was so harsh it expelled much blood onto the ground.

He then tried to stand straight, staring sharply at the village chief.

"Hahaha... How can a Witch become the village chief in a human village? What really happens in this village? Uhuk... Cuh..."

He spat the blood from his mouth onto the roadside wild orchid.

"There is no answer for one who will die."

Just as the Village Chief raised his right hand and opened his mouth to command the giant wasps, someone shouted from behind his back.

"Kill—"

"Master Sizhu!"

The Village Chief turned in surprise. He saw the lantern light exactly five steps behind him. Someone stood there, legs trembling at what his eyes witnessed.

Several wasps also turned their bodies to see the source of the shout.

"Hubei. What are you doing here!?"

The restrained anger on the Village Chief furrowed his brow.

No one in this village should know my true identity! If not... The village I have guarded and nurtured for over a decade will be destroyed!

"Zhuangzhu Muzhe... Master Sizhu... What are you doing here?"

"Qing's father?"

Seeing the Village Chief's outstretched hand toward the man named Hubei, Sizhu's eyes widened tensely.

Shit! that old man will be killed by those wasps!

"Forgive me, Hubei. You have broken the village's unwritten rule. Just like your wife once did."

The Village Chief stared expressionless at Hubei, Qing's father.

"Kill him."

Bzzz! Bzzzz!

"Duck!"

A wasp instantly darted to sting and decapitate Hubei.

But in seconds, just as the wasp sped toward Hubei's head like a shot arrow, Sizhu ran faster and tackled Hubei to the ground, saving him from the wasp's sting.

Bruk!

Swoosh!

The wasp flew off target, flying too far from its prey.

But, Its front legs dripped blood onto the grass.

It was Sizhu's blood from a cross-shaped wound on his back. It tore through his cloak and almost sliced deeper into the muscles of his back. The wound was shallow.

Hah... My body moved on its own seeing someone in danger... hah... But it made me careless! Hah..

Hubei, still stunned, lay on the ground. He had just closed his eyes when the terrifying wasp flew at his face like an arrow.

The wooden lantern Hubei held fell to the ground. Its flame still burned, starting to set his cage on fire.

He then patted Sizhu after realizing he was alive and tried to calm his rapid breathing.

"Master Sizhu!"

He stood up, helping Sizhu who was already limp leaning on his shoulder.

"Master Sizhu!... Your wounds..."

Qing's father saw the unstoppable bleeding from Sizhu's back and his left arm wrapped in cloth soaked with his own blood.

"The venom... hah... that wasp's venom is paralytic... Hah..."

"You two..." Muzhe, the Village Chief, pointed angrily, while his wasp soldiers already circled Sizhu and Hubei from all sides.

"You must die! No one may break the rules I made here!"

Muzhe's face grew drier like grapes sun-dried for weeks in the summer heat. From those dry wrinkles, white pus oozed out.

"Muzhe... you... so all these rules... The human hunts... The night offerings... Even my wife's death... it was your fault...?"

Hubei stared fiercely at Muzhe, his eyes trembling with rage.

"The rules were made for reasons, Hubei Fei. Without me, everyone in this village would die cursed by _that person!_ He gave me the chance to make my own rules and keep you like my livestock! Everything belongs to me! You should be thankful you are not cursed like the people outside this village!"

That person? Who is he talking about?

Is that the same person I saw in the Stag Head Witch memory?

Sizhu controlled his breath and his vision, which was starting to blur. He tried to control his own pounding heart and the blood flow carrying the venom from his wound.

The bleeding was a sign he was practicing the technique taught by his master.

But he needed time to expel the paralytic poison that almost spread to his vital organs. Reversing blood flow out of the open wound. His veins tensed as if holding a heavy burden.

"Who is the person you mean, Muzhe? What is happening on this land? What do you mean by cursed humans? Isn't that just your excuse to justify the rules you made?"

Hubei stared intensely at Muzhe seven steps ahead. He ignored the heat from the flames near his feet and the wasps buzzing above his head. He seriously looked at Muzhe's face, which slowly turned dry and terrifying with pus.

That face clenched its teeth.

"He is the messenger. His words bring safety to those who follow. The fulfiller of every prayer, with equal exchange."

***